In the wake of the Sammy Yatim shooting, the chairman of the Toronto Police Services Board says legislation is constraining its ability to ensure accountability, as he renewed calls for stiffer disciplinary powers for police chiefs.

“Right now it is very, very hard to terminate a police officer,” Alok Mukherjee, board chair, said Tuesday. “There are occasions when you say: ‘How in God’s name is this person working here?'”

He made the startling admission following a police board meeting, during which he read a second statement on the police shooting of Mr. Yatim, 18 — an incident that continues to stoke rage on the streets of Toronto. The Yatim family marched to police headquarters surrounded by supporters and had a private audience with Chief Bill Blair in his office.

Mr. Mukherjee also announced the board will seek “independent legal standing” at the upcoming coroner’s inquest into the deaths of three GTA residents who were suffering from mental health issues and were shot by police. It is the first time the civilian watchdog will probe issues at an inquest separate from the Toronto Police Service and, according to Mr. Mukherjee, signals “the board’s determination to ask its own questions” on use-of-force and deescalation tactics.

In its statement, the board said it takes “an extremely serious view of the incident and [is] prepared to use every power and authority that the board has to deal with it.”

It vowed to “push the boundaries” by calling for “strong and immediate action by those who have statutory responsibility.”

The board has long called on the government to modernize how chiefs can discipline officers by giving them the ability, for example, to suspend without pay. In certain circumstances, Mr. Mukherjee said it should be easier to fire an officer. Currently, under the Ontario Police Services Act, the only time a police officer won’t collect a salary while suspended is if he or she is convicted and imprisoned.

Chief Blair, meanwhile, would not divulge what was said during his meeting with the Yatim family. “We’ll continue to talk as they need to talk,” he said.

Although dismissed as tokenism by the mother of one shooting victim Tuesday, Chief Blair said the decision to enlist former associate chief justice Dennis O’Connor to review police practices was a “sincere effort on our part.”

“I think it’s maybe unfortunate that people may not be aware of all of the effort that has gone on in the past to improving the quality of our response and the training of our officers,” Chief Blair said. “I also want them to understand of our commitment to continue to improve, to continue to look for better ways.”